We currently live in Virginia and I have a nice big basement that for most of the year stays at a good temperature for ale fermentation. I have really been blessed with my current situation. But....

My family will soon be moving to Orlando Florida. Having done some house hunting already, it is clear that I will probably not have the ability to brew quite so easily, at least with regard to fermentation.

Do any of you have experience using refridgerators/temperature controlers as a means of fermentation? If so, will you kindly share with me some of your hard earned knowledge/advice.

I would really like to have a setup where I can simply let the beer ferment, i.e. no changing of water or adding more ice or damp towels to keep the temperature where it needs to be.

I'm curious why this will be a problem. Can you find a dark clost or something to put it in? If you have central air, you should be able have parts of the house down to the low 70s which is fine for ale.

I am sure that the house will be cool enough for making some ales, but I want to have more control over the temperature. My current basement only varies 1-3 degrees over the course of the day. Not to mention with a chest freezer I could lager!

Won't your house have central air? If so, I would assume the temperature would stay pretty constant during the course of a day.

Also, if your house is warmer than you would like, an inexpensive but effective solution is the wet t-shirt trick. Put a t-shirt over your carboy, put it in a tub of water and it will keep your beer several degrees cooler than the temp in the house.

Pumbaa
- Thanks for the link. I gave it a quick look and not only does it look like it would work, but it's another project!

EdWort
- I am a fan of any 1911 that is reliable. In my case that is a Kimber Custom Target II and a Para Ordinance LTC. Both very reliable and fun to shoot! Nothing beats a cold beer in the middle of the summer after getting some range time.